Onyeka Okongwu is one of the best prospects in the 2020 NBA Draft. What lottery teams could use him to bolster their frontcourts?
2020 is a weird time to be a big man. Though big, bulky centers are often important to help a team through the regular season, they’re rarely helpful on the biggest stage. Many are at risk of being targeted by a quick, shifty perimeter player, and those players are often found leading high-level playoff teams. It’s hard for people approaching 7-feet in height to be nimble.
On the bright side, those few who are playable can have an enormous impact. Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo were headliners of the 2020 NBA Finals, two athletic bigs who can punish the right matchup on offense while patrolling on defense.
Giannis Antetokounmpo just won Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, a feat that only two players had ever accomplished before him. Nikola Jokic just made the Western Conference Finals. Joel Embiid has gotten a taste of playoff greatness with the right pieces around him.
Even if they’re not the main scorers or first options when it matters most, bigs are still vital to a contender’s prospects. The post-up powerhouses of old are phasing out, but skilled and athletic towers are still of significance.
That’s why, even in a weak draft class, bigs still find themselves at the top of the board. James Wiseman has been seen as high as the No. 1 overall prospect, and Onyeka Okongwu expects to fall no lower than 10th on draft night.
Okongwu is of high intrigue. His strengths line up directly with what teams need in the playoffs: great athleticism, high basketball I.Q., good finishing at the rim, and the upside to thrive in various defensive schemes. He knows his role and played it well at the University of Southern California, something a lot of top prospects struggled to do for their teams.
He may be closer to his ceiling than his peers, but he also has a more projectable role in the NBA than most of them. He’s a fit with most teams at either the 4 or 5, able to defend in space next to another big while also expected to be a stout rim protector as the center. That gives him a lot of potential suitors on draft night.